


if we never take the first step (let's get a move on)

by socallmedaisy



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-19 21:50:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11906901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/socallmedaisy/pseuds/socallmedaisy
Summary: Waverly hums happily. “I love—” there’s a tiny pause and Waverly’s breath hitches in her throat, “this.”Nicole exhales heavily. She hadn’t even realised she’d been holding her breath.“Yeah,” she agrees finally, pressing a kiss to Waverly’s hair and trying not to think about the pause and the way it makes something in her stomach flip over. “Me too.Or, five times Waverly Earp doesn't say I love you, and one time she does.





	if we never take the first step (let's get a move on)

**Author's Note:**

> this started as a simple five times fic and then turned into a monster domestic wayhaught with a massive side of wynonna and nicole. i regret nothing.
> 
> canon compliant through 2x11.
> 
> come yell at me on tumblr: socallmedaisy.tumblr.com

_ 5: Nicole _

 

The Earps can drink. She’s not sure why she’s surprised by this fact anymore, but.

Wynonna and Waverly slam their empty shot glasses down on the bar at the same time, Waverly wrinkling her nose against the taste in this way that makes Nicole want to kiss her.

Then again, pretty much everything Waverly does makes her want to kiss her, so that isn’t that unusual.

Wynonna leans over the bar. “Three more,” she says, waving three fingers towards Rosita. She turns and points at Nicole. “Now you’re back from hiding in the bathroom you get one too.”

Waverly snuggles into her side when Nicole steps closer, one warm hand creeping under her jacket until it meets bare skin. Nicole shivers a little at the contact, and the soft, insistent stroke of Waverly’s fingers against her back. It makes her forget to argue about the hiding thing.

“I got the early shift so I’m good,” she says it to Rosita when she comes over with the bottle more than to Wynonna, but Wynonna still huffs out a breath disappointedly.

“I don’t like this one,” Wynonna says to Waverly, like she meant to whisper, only the whiskey made her forget how to do it.

Nicole shifts her weight from left to right awkwardly, glancing away. 

She was definitely not hiding in the bathroom. She was taking a moment and that’s not the same thing. She already knew Wynonna didn’t like her—she hasn’t quite figured out if it’s just a protective older sister thing, an adjusting to her sister dating a woman thing, or something more—and maybe she needed a second to get over all the sarcasm. 

She feels like she could do with a few more.

“I do,” Waverly says around a grin, pulling her away from the thought. She stretches up on her tiptoes to kiss Nicole softly, her fingers warm against her back.

She doesn't really care what Wynonna thinks after that. 

She’s aware Waverly’s sister is watching them, as well as half the barflys in Shorty’s, but she still deepens the kiss a little, feeling rather than hearing Waverly hum happily into her mouth.

Waverly’s free hand creeps up to her neck, urging her closer, and Nicole forces herself to pull back.

Waverly pouts at the lack of contact, but her attention is pulled back by Wynonna handing her the refilled glass. “Less making out, more whiskey.”

“Oh boy,” Waverly mumbles, so adorable Nicole almost can't stand it. “Okay.” Then they’re both knocking back the shots again.

Wynonna turns back to the bar almost immediately, and it’s making Nicole feel lightheaded just watching them. Waverly is  _ tiny  _ and she really shouldn’t be able to drink this much hard liquor and remain standing. 

Waverly steps into her space again, both her hands going around her waist this time as she cuddles into her. ”I think I’m done, babe.”

“Yeah?” Nicole ghosts a kiss against Waverly’s hair and then rests her chin on her head. She thinks Waverly changed her shampoo, because it smells like something citrusy and she kind of loves it.

“Let’s go home,” Waverly mumbles against her chest.

Rosita is back in front of Wynonna but she hasn’t poured her another whiskey yet. “Leave the bottle,” Wynonna says hopefully, and Rosita just gives her a look that makes Wynonna grin. “Worth a try.”

“How about a glass of water,” Nicole says and Rosita nods. 

“Like the way you think, Deputy.”

“I don’t,” Wynonna says, but her eyes go a little bit soft when she sees her sister cuddling into Nicole and smiling at her. “Ugh, why’d you have to date an actual hero.”

Nicole is opening her mouth to ask if Wynonna needs a ride home when her brain registers what Wynonna said and she ends up standing there with her mouth hanging open. 

“What.” Wynonna asks, and Nicole thinks she almost looks embarrassed. She shakes it off. 

“Do you need a ride back to the homestead? I’ve probably had too much to drink to drive but we could get—”

Wynonna waves her hand to cut Nicole off. “I’ll be fine, Haught.” She sips at the water Rosita gave her, and grimaces. “I can sleep at BBD.”

“Stay safe, Wynonna,” Waverly says, from where she still hasn’t let go of Nicole. 

“You too, kid,” Wynona shoots back, with a suggestive smirk that makes Nicole blush.

Waverly just rolls her eyes and cuddles closer into Nicole’s chest, ignoring her sister. “Take me home?”

“We need to find a ride, I can’t—”

“Not that home,” Waverly says like it’s obvious, “ _ that  _ home.” She points in the general direction of Nicole’s apartment and a warm feeling settles somewhere in Nicole’s stomach at Waverly calling it ‘home.’

Nicole doesn't want to move, and she feels Waverly give her a nudge, reaching for her hand to pull her towards the door.

“Goodnight Wynonna,” Nicole calls over her shoulder, and Wynonna just raises her glass of water in a salute. 

“Officer Haught.”

//

Waverly backs her up against the door frame almost as soon as they get through it, pressing hot, wet kisses to her mouth and tangling her hands into her hair.

Her hands go to Waverly’s hips before she can think about it, like it’s the most natural thing in the world, even though it hasn’t been that long since Waverly came to see her at the station and did almost this exact same thing in Nedley’s office. 

Waverly tastes like the whiskey she’s been drinking, and something down underneath it that she doesn’t recognise, cold, and hard.

Before she can think about it, one of Waverly’s hands goes down to her belt, her fingers tugging at the bottom of her shirt before slipping under it and starting to move up— 

“Whoa, hey, wait.”

She would take a step back, but her back is against a door. Waverly hears her and leans back a little, almost but not quite swaying on her feet. 

For less than a second, Nicole thinks Waverly’s eyes look almost completely black in the gloom of her apartment. Waverly blinks, and the black turns back to green as Nicole’s eyes get used to the light.

“Waves, I don’t want to do this for the first time when we’ve been drinking.”

She reaches down and tucks a strand of Waverly’s hair behind her ear. It takes a second, but Waverly nods into her hand.

“I know. Me too. I just—” 

“Want this,” Nicole fills in before she can stop herself. Her voice almost turns it into a question.

Waverly smiles this sweet, shy smile that makes something in Nicole’s chest ache.

“I want you.”

Nicole takes one step forward and closes the space between them. It’s different to how it was a moment ago, softer, somehow. Waverly’s hands stay in Nicole’s hair, and Nicole reaches a hand up from Waverly’s hip to rest at the hinge of Waverly’s jaw, tilting her head up as she strokes her thumb over Waverly’s skin.

It doesn’t last that long, and then Waverly takes a step back and exhales noisily. “Okay,” she says, with this little determined nod that Nicole loves. She reaches for Nicole’s hand to pull her towards the bedroom. “Come on, I need my big spoon.”

Nicole ducks her head to try and hide her grin. “I can do that.”

// 

Waverly finds an oversized Purgatory Sheriff's Dept. shirt of Nicole’s and disappears into the bathroom to get changed into it, the bottom of the shirt skimming her bare thighs in this way that makes Nicole swallow against the sudden dryness in her throat.

She thinks Waverly notices because she smiles at her as she comes closer to the bed. 

It’s not the first time they’ve slept in the same bed together. Nicole had come to the homestead after Willa, her ribs haphazardly bandaged from the hospital, the only thing she’d let the doctors do to her as she’d shouted that she needed to leave, and Waverly had wordlessly led her upstairs and pulled her down onto the bed before carefully pressing herself against her side, her hand hovering over the bruise from the bullet like she didn’t dare to touch it.

Waverly doesn’t need to be as careful now, the bruise mostly fading from Nicole’s skin. Or maybe she can’t be. She did drink a lot of whiskey.

She practically climbs on top of Nicole, reaching an arm up to sort of half loop around her neck, the other squashed between them, Waverly’s palm flat against Nicole’s chest, just below where Waverly’s got her face pressed against Nicole’s neck. It’s an awkward position, but it’s still kind of nice being this close, and she tightens her arms around Waverly’s back and feels Waverly press herself closer in response.

They’re both silent for a while, but it feels comfortable, worn in somehow. She listens to Waverly breathe in and out, feeling it against her skin.

“Babe, I don’t think this is how spooning works,” she says eventually, when she can feel Waverly getting heavier against her, and hears her breathing start to even out.

Waverly’s hand tightens around Nicole’s neck. “But s’nice.”

Nicole sighs out happily. One of her legs is bent at a weird angle, and she can feel the tell-tale ache in her chest starting up again from her bruise, but she can’t find it in her to disagree.

“Come on, Waves.” She gently rolls Waverly’s weight off of her, sliding one hand under Waverly’s head and looping the other around her stomach as they move onto their sides.

Waverly hums happily. “I love—” there’s a tiny pause and Waverly’s breath hitches in her throat, “this.”

Nicole exhales heavily. She hadn’t even realised she’d been holding her breath.

“Yeah,” she agrees finally, pressing a kiss to Waverly’s hair and trying not to think about the pause and the way it makes something in her stomach flip over. “Me too.

//// 

 

_ 4: Nicole _

 

There is exactly one fancy restaurant in Purgatory. 

Nicole knows this because it took her a month to get a reservation, and that was after one very awkward conversation with Nedley and him calling in a favour with someone who works there after she promised she’d work double shifts for the next two weeks.

She’s painfully aware they haven’t really been on a proper date since all this started, too busy with sisters returning from the dead and revenants and healing wounds they needed to rest. 

Nerves flutter in her chest as she stares at her reflection in the mirror. She’d pulled her little black dress from the back of the closet and she runs her hands over it, smoothing non-existent wrinkles. She doesn’t know why she feels nervous, but she pulls her fingers through her hair, wondering if maybe she should have done something other than leave it loose.

There’s a knock at the door, and she huffs a quick breath in and out to try and steady herself before she goes to answer it.

Waverly’s mouth drops open when she sees her, and it takes a second before the smile slides over her face, like her brain is struggling to catch up. “Wow, you look incredible.”

The nerves flicker and die, replaced by something a lot warmer. 

Waverly looks— “So beautiful.” She mumbles it more than says it, but Waverly hears her, dips a little curtsy to better show off her dress, a flush creeping across her cheeks.

“Yeah?” 

Nicole hates that she sounds surprised, like no one else she ever dated told her that. “Yeah,” she grins, reaching for her as she steps closer.

She stops when she hears the wolf-whistle coming from behind Waverly, and leans around her to look.

Wynonna’d propped up on the window frame of the truck, fingers still between her lips. “Damn, Haught. You look,” she smirks and raises her eyebrows. “ _ Hot _ .”

Nicole laughs, and she sees Waverly rolling her eyes. 

“Stop hitting on my girlfriend,” Waverly shouts back, and Nicole still feels a little thrill go through her when Waverly calls her that.

“Can’t make any promises.” The smirk is still on Wynonna’s face, and the engine rumbles to life as she waves her arm. “Have fun, kids.”

Waverly bats at Nicole’s arm with her clutch as the truck pulls off, and it takes her a second to realise she’s still laughing. She wipes the smile off her face pretty quickly at the pouty expression Waverly is wearing. “Hey, come on, you know there’s only one Earp for me.”

Waverly manages to hold the grumpy expression for another second, then she grins and steps into her, one hand coming up to tangle in her hair. Nicole’s glad she left it loose. “And don’t you forget it.”

“As if I could.”

Waverly closes the space between them, having to stretch up onto her tiptoes because they’re both wearing heels. The kiss is soft, over more quickly than Nicole would like, but they do have a reservation to make.

//

The food was amazing, but Nicole’s enjoying the walk home more than she’d probably admit, Waverly warm next to her in the crisp night air, their fingers tangled together between them.

“We should go on proper dates more often. I think we’re kinda good at it,” Waverly says shyly, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.

Nicole laughs, and Waverly bumps into her side. “Tonight was the best,” Nicole agrees. She comes to a stop under a streetlight and uses their joined hands to pull Waverly towards her, until she’s looking down at the warmth in Waverly’s eyes and feels Waverly’s hands find her hips.

It kind of looks like Waverly is bathed in light, and Nicole wants to kiss the smile from her face until she’s breathless, until they’re hurrying back to her place just so they can get out of these dresses.

She settles for biting at her lip and tucking a strand of hair that’s come loose behind Waverly’s ear, strokes her fingers against Waverly’s cheek.

Their eyes meet, and Nicole’s fingers still.

“What are you thinking?” she asks, and Waverly looks away.

“I love—” Waverly huffs out a laugh and finds her eyes again, “I love that you’re tall, is that weird?”

“I love that you love that I’m tall,” Nicole says before she can stop herself, close enough to what she means that she hopes Waverly will hear it.

She thinks she does, because Waverly’s smile turns sweeter.

////

 

_ 3: Nicole _

 

She finds Dolls in the break room, when she’s rushing in to get coffee between following up a couple of calls that came in that morning, and he hands her the coffee pot silently, hardly glancing at her.

“Hey, Waverly will finish at 6 tonight, right?” she asks, stifling a yawn as she fills her mug.

“If she and Jeremy finish researching the—”

“No, she can’t stay late tonight, we have a thing,” Nicole rounds on him quickly, and he actually looks a little shocked that she interrupted him. She’s not scared of him anymore, not since he barked at her about entering BBD offices without knocking, and she just glares at him, waiting.

“Is that thing more important than a revenant counterfeiter who forges death certificates that actually kill people?”

Nicole opens her mouth and then closes it again.

“Right. She’ll finish when she and Jeremy find out—”

“It’s her birthday,” Nicole says quickly. “And no one ever celebrates it.” 

It sounds dumb when she says it out loud but she knows it’s not. She just hopes he gets that too.

“Wynonna didn’t say anything,” he sips his coffee, eyeing her over the top of it. She always has trouble reading his expression—once in special ops always in special ops—but it doesn't look like he doesn’t believe her. “Waverly didn’t either.”

“No one ever celebrates it,” she says again, more insistently, pushing aside her flash of irritation at the fact. “I don’t think she even knows I know.”

Dolls nods, setting his empty mug down on the counter. He gives her his approximation of a smile. “She finishes at 6.”

She feels the tension drain out of her, her whole body relaxing.

“Be at Shorty’s at 8,” Nicole calls after him as he leaves, and he just raises his hand in acknowledgement as he disappears.

//

She calls in at Shorty’s on the way back from checking up on a tip off about some stolen goods, and Rosita looks up from where she’s wiping down the bar when she comes in, offering her a tight smile.

“Hey, we set for tonight?” Nicole puts her baseball cap down on the bar, running her hands through her hair. She feels exhausted and it’s only 11am.

Rosita nods, gesturing at the box on the bar. “Stocked up on whiskey. And mocktails for Wynonna.”

“See you at 8?”

Rosita sets a cup of coffee down in front of her that Nicole didn’t ask for. Nicole gulps it down gratefully.

“See you at 8.”

“Thank you.” She’s not sure if she means for the coffee or the party, and she sets the empty cup down on the bar as she heads for the door..

//

She sends Jeremy an email, gets one back almost immediately saying he can’t wait to come, and she knows Rosita told Doc what’s going on because she ran back into Shorty’s to ask after she realised she’d left her cap on the bar.

It didn’t stop her following him to some dodgy looking dive bar on the edge of town she’s pretty sure she’s probably gonna have to shut down at some point in her career, just to make sure he’d be there.

Wynonna’s actually the hardest one of them to pin down. She finds her eventually, walking down Main Street after an hour and a half of looking. She pulls her cruiser up to the curb and winds the window down.

“Hey Wynonna, you got a minute?”

“Anything for you Officer,” Wynonna snarks. 

Nicole ignores her. “Do you have plans tonight? Can you be at Shorty’s at 8?”

“You’re asking a pregnant lady to a bar? Wow, Haught, you know how to treat a woman.” Wynonna rests a hand on her bump for emphasis and bats her eyes, exaggerated for effect.

Nicole just about manages to stop herself from rolling her eyes, twisting her hands around the steering wheel instead.

“It’s for Waverly.” Nicole says impatiently, “It’s her—”

“Birthday,” Wynonna realises at the same moment Nicole says it, and the smirk falls off her face. “Shit, I always forget.” She blinks quickly and looks away.

“Right.” She manages to keep the irritation out of her voice. It's only the shame lurking in Wynonna’s eyes that makes her voice soften when she asks, “Can you be there?”

“Yeah,” Wynonna sighs. “I won’t miss it.”

She doesn’t say  _ not again  _ but Nicole hears it anyway. 

//

It’s 6.05 when she makes it to the BBD office, and she hopes Waverly didn’t leave before she could— 

“Waverly,” Nicole says in surprise, taking in the five open books propped up around her on the desk, and the glum expression on her face.

“Hi,” Waverly sounds so sad Nicole can’t stand it, and she strides across the room quickly, pulling Waverly to her feet.

“What are—”

Nicole kisses her hard, trying to put everything she wants to say into it. When they break apart Waverly is a little breathless, but she doesn’t look quite so sad anymore.

It makes some of the anxiety she’s been feeling all day fade into the background.

“Happy birthday, baby.”

The shocked expression on Waverly’s face gives way to pure joy almost instantly. “You know when my birthday is?”

It breaks her heart that Waverly is so happy about that, and she just swallows and nods. “Yeah, I didn’t know if you would be into celebrating, but I was thinking we could grab burgers from that place you love and then go get a drink?”

Waverly smiles, that soft vulnerable smile that makes her look younger than she is. “That sounds nice.” Her eyes flicker back towards the books on the table, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “But I need to find this revenant before anyone else dies. Jeremy ran off somewhere and I don't know if he's coming back.”

Nicole knows she’ll lose the argument. Waverly is just as dedicated to this as Nicole is to being a cop and she would never leave work if lives were hanging in the balance.

It’s one of the things she loves about her.

“How about I go get the burgers and bring them back here?” She says instead, searching Waverly’s eyes. “And maybe I can help?”

“You’re amazing,” Waverly says warmly, pressing a quick kiss to the side of Nicole’s mouth. 

Waverly settles back down at the desk, and Nicole stops in the doorway to glance back at her. The hint of a soft smile on Waverly’s face is the last thing she sees.

//

She calls Wynonna when she’s walking back with the burgers, explains what’s going on.

“When did my kid sister get so noble?” Wynonna gripes through the phone. “Your influence I assume.”

Nicole just sighs. She had zero influence on that at all. “Can you get everyone to come to BBD? I know it’s not the same, but I just want her to have something nice for her birthday, and I’ve been driving all over this damn town all day rounding you up and now she won’t leave and—”

“Nicole.” It’s the use of her given name that gets her to stop. “Don’t freak out, we’ll be there, okay?”

“You better.” Nicole says, her voice coming out sounding more strangled than she intends as she thumbs the end call button. 

She stops walking and sucks in a deep breath, taking a moment to swallow against the scratchy sensation in her throat. 

“It’s Waverly’s birthday,” she mumbles, tightening her grip on the burgers. “It’s going to be awesome.”

She’s not entirely sure she believes it.

//

The burgers are gone, but there’s a few fries left between them on the table as they leaf through the books, looking for clues to the revenant’s identity. Waverly did explain what they were looking for but Nicole isn’t sure she’s really helping, too distracted to take in the information on the pages.

She keeps glancing at the clock, watches it tick past 8 and wonders if Wynonna is gathering everyone up at Shorty’s and heading over here.

It’s get to 8.10, then 8.22, and Waverly reaches for her hand, drawing her attention to her. “Do you have somewhere to be?”

“No,” Nicole says quickly, eyes wide. Waverly just quirks a disbelieving eyebrow at her, waiting. 

Nicole opens her mouth to say more when the door bangs open, and she turns quickly, hoping Wynonna will save her from having to lie to Waverly.

“Happy birthday, baby girl.”

Nicole has never been so grateful to see Wynonna before. It's an odd feeling, but one she doesn't exactly dislike. 

Wynonna steps aside to reveal Doc and Dolls carrying a keg, both of them fighting to carry the bulk of the weight. Rosita follows them, holding a box of liquor bottles, and Jeremy wears a grin with what looks suspiciously like a ‘happy birthday Waverly’ banner tucked under his arm.

Nicole doesn’t think she’s ever felt so relieved in her life, and she meets Wynonna’s eyes for a moment, mouthing a silent  _ thank you _ . Wynonna just nods as she comes over to pull Waverly into a tight hug.

When Waverly steps back from the hug, her mouth is hanging open in surprise, and Nicole thinks her eyes look wet. Waverly blinks a couple of times and then wipes at one of them quickly, like she hopes the others won’t notice.

“Guys, you didn’t have to do this.” Waverly’s voice sounds thick, and Nicole reaches to tangle her fingers through Waverly’s. Waverly doesn’t turn round to look at her, but her grip on Nicole’s hand is tight.

“Yeah we did, Wynonna says you’ve never had a birthday party before,” Jeremy says quickly, then winces when Waverly sniffs and looks away. “Sorry, I’m— sorry.”

//

Rosita finds the revenant they’re looking for in a book when they’re a couple of drinks in, and then Dolls, Doc and Wynonna disappear for an hour before coming back looking a little windswept but happy, another one of the revenants back where they belong. 

Rosita mixes the drinks, and Dolls digs an old radio out from somewhere and then there’s music blasting out and dancing, and it all starts to turn into a bit of a blur.

Waverly looks happier than Nicole thinks she’s ever seen her, and she feels warmth settle in her chest because she did this, and now Waverly is over there laughing at something Doc is saying and sipping at her drink.

“You did good, Haught,” Wynonna says, coming over to get another soda. She cracks it open and Nicole raises her glass in a silent toast. 

Wynonna’s hand is hot on Nicole’s shoulder as she passes her, squeezing just once before she lets go. 

//

“Hey,” Waverly says later, stumbling a little from the alcohol. She wraps her arms around Nicole’s neck and presses a clumsy kiss to her mouth. “I know this was you.”

Nicole nuzzles into her, bumping their foreheads together. “Guilty as charged.”

Waverly’s grin gets wider. “I knew it.”

Nicole ducks her head and kisses her quickly. When she pulls back Waverly tries to go with her, but she needs to know so she asks, “Do you like your party?”

“I love it,” Waverly says quickly, cheeks flushed. “Thank you.”

“Happy birthday,” Nicole says again, just because, and closes the space between them.

She hopes it's not the last one they celebrate together. 

////

 

_ 2: Nicole _

 

“You know what I really want?” Waverly has one leg thrown over Nicole’s hips, her face pressed into Nicole’s shoulder. Nicole runs a hand absentmindedly up and down Waverly’s back. 

“I think I'm gonna need a break before we go again,” Nicole pants and Waverly laughs. 

It's not entirely the truth. She would do pretty much anything Waverly asked right now, up to and including giving her a fourth orgasm. 

Actually, Waverly wouldn’t even really need to ask. 

“I really want ice cream.” Waverly smiles in that way she does when she's trying to get someone to agree to her plans. It works on Doc almost as often as it works on her.

Nicole sighs, already mentally preparing to untangle herself from Waverly. There’s only really one outcome when Waverly gives her that look.

“If the pregnant lady shoots me for raiding her ice cream stash I am going to come back and haunt you forever.”

“She won't.” Waverly kisses her shoulder. “But I like the sound of you sticking around forever.” She moves higher, her lips pressing against Nicole’s throat. 

“Preferably not as a ghost or a revenant, right?” Nicole shifts a little, tilting her head back so Waverly has got better access to her neck. 

Waverly grins into the next kiss, just under Nicole's jaw. “Preferably,” she agrees. 

“Then I will undertake this dangerous mission in search of ice cream, to prove my love for you.” The words are out of her mouth before she realises, and Waverly breaks off kissing her to prop herself up on one hand, a flush spreading across her cheeks as she grins at her. 

There's something like surprise hiding in her eyes, and Nicole has no idea how there can be. 

“You're very noble, Officer Haught.”

She leans forward to kiss Waverly properly, brushing her tongue against Waverly’s bottom lip until Waverly opens her mouth, deepening the kiss.

“But seriously,” Nicole says, after a second. “I am so haunting you.”

Waverly laughs against her mouth. “Okay.”

//

She stumbles downstairs half an hour later in the spare pajamas she keeps at the homestead ever since she woke up naked with Dolls blushing and trying to avert his eyes. 

She comes to a stop in the kitchen doorway, her eyes taking in Wynonna sitting at the counter with a pint of ice cream open in front of her. 

“Finally surfaced for air?” Wynonna asks, sucking ice cream off the spoon. 

Nicole can feel herself blushing. 

“I don't know—”

“The walls aren't that thick, Haught. I heard you the first time. And the second time. When you started round three I went outside to—”

“Please stop talking.”

Wynonna smirks. After a second she indicates the ice cream in front of her. “You want some?”

“Waverly,” Nicole says, latching on to the question like a lifeline. “Waverly does. I can get some more out of the freezer.”

“There, um.” Wynonna sucks at the spoon and shrugs. “This is the last of it.”

Nicole just looks at her, remembering Waverly carrying four pints home from the store earlier in the week. 

“I'm pregnant, it's  _ fine _ .” Wynonna drops the spoon on the counter with a clatter and reaches for a clean one out of the drawer. 

“Sure,” Nicole says, because it seems easier. 

Wynonna shoves the ice cream across the counter towards her. “Please don't use the last of my ice cream for some sort of kinky lesbian sex game with my baby sister.”

Nicole doesn't even know what to do with that, even if Wynonna did hear them having sex—of the non-kinky variety—earlier. Her face is warm, and she knows she’s blushing, so she just swipes the ice cream off of the counter. “Thanks for the ice cream.” It’s literally the only thing she can think to say before she turns to go. 

“Hey Nicole, wait.” Every time Wynonna says her first name it startles her into silence, and this time is no different. She turns around slowly, the cold from the ice cream seeping into her fingers. 

“You're really good for her, you know? You're maybe the first person she has ever had in her life that treats her the way she deserves to be treated.” Wynonna swallows, and looks away. “Including me.”

Nicole blinks a couple of times. It wasn’t what she was expecting, but there’s one thing in there she has to disagree with. “You do okay.”

“A year doesn’t make up for… it doesn't make up for the rest of it.” Wynonna entwines her fingers together and stares down at them, like she can’t quite stand to meet Nicole’s eyes.

“Waverly really loves you.” It’s the truth; she has no idea why Wynonna doesn’t see it. 

Wynonna smiles quickly only it doesn’t reach her eyes. It lasts less than a second and then falters a little, like she can’t quite keep the expression on her face, and she sniffs and glances away. Nicole Haught knows better than to ask Wynonna Earp if she's about to cry so she doesn't say anything, just stares down into the ice cream and waits for her to reply. 

It’s chocolate chip. Waverly’s favourite.

“She loves  _ you _ .” Wynonna says after a long moment. “And I know you love her because I have eyes.” She flashes a humourless grin. “And ears. It's kind of gross actually.”

Nicole fiddles with the spoon, her eyes down on the counter. She doesn’t know what makes her say it, maybe the fact that the thought has been lurking in the back of her mind for a while, gnawing away at her. “But she didn't say—” She cuts off, in case saying the words might make it true.

Wynonna actually rolls her eyes as she eases down off her seat, one hand on her bump. “You're both hopeless.” And then she's gone, disappearing into another room. 

Nicole huffs out a breath, rolls her eyes up to the ceiling. “Thanks Wynonna.” It sounds a lot more sarcastic than she intended. “Good talk.”

//

“Ice cream!” Waverly singsongs when she gets back to the bedroom. She’s put some shorts on, and an old faded shirt Nicole knows she keeps just to sleep in. She looks better than she has any right to, and Nicole bends down to kiss her quickly before she passes the ice cream off. 

“Mission accomplished.”

“You're the best.” She watches Waverly lick ice cream off the spoon and feels something in the back of her mind almost short circuit. It takes her a second to realise Waverly is asking her something. “Huh?”

“Do you want some?”

“Oh sure.”

Waverly wiggles closer, leaning against Nicole’s shoulder until she flops backwards on the bed, then crawls over her, offering Nicole a spoonful. Some of it melts off of the spoon and drips down onto Waverly’s knee.

She hisses at the cold, and Nicole rolls until she can lick it off, Waverly squirming at the sensation.

“Hot mouth, cold ice cream.” Waverly says when Nicole raises an eyebrow at her. 

“Wynonna told me we weren't allowed to use the last of her ice cream for any kinky lesbian sex games.”

Waverly’s mouth opens and then closes a couple of times and Nicole swallows her laugh at the expression on her face. 

“Oh?” is about all Waverly seems to manage. 

Nicole smirks and rolls them so Waverly is on her back, pushing the shirt up until it's bunched around Waverly’s neck. She wants to duck her head and suck one of Waverly’s nipples into her mouth, but she resists the urge and reaches for the ice cream instead. 

“Babe, what are you doing?” Waverly doesn't sound that concerned, and the flush spreading across her face kind of gives her away. 

“Do you trust me?” Nicole asks, which is maybe a bit unfair. She should tell her what she's gonna do but she doesn't want to ruin the surprise. 

“Trust you? I—” Waverly cuts off and bites at her lip. She moves her hands to rest on Nicole’s knees, either side of Waverly’s hips. “I trust you.”

“Okay,” Nicole says. 

She spoons some ice cream into her mouth and then dips her head to Waverly’s chest, finding a nipple.

The way Waverly’s fingers wind into Nicole’s hair and scrape at her scalp, and the whining noise Waverly makes in the back of her throat make Nicole grin against Waverly’s skin. 

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she hopes Wynonna had the good sense to go outside again. 

////

 

_ 1: Nicole _

 

She always wakes up with Waverly wrapped around her in some slightly odd position she's pretty sure can't be comfortable. 

Right now, Waverly is half lying next to her, half on top of her, one leg hooked over Nicole’s hips, the other tangled up with both of Nicole’s. The blanket’s mostly folded around Waverly—it always is—and she has one hand fisted in Nicole’s shirt like she's half afraid Nicole might try to get away.

Nicole gently tries to pry her off. “Babe, I gotta get up.”

Waverly grumbles in her sleep, and Nicole swears Waverly’s hand tightens against her shirt. 

“Come on, I gotta work.”

“It's Sunday,” Waverly mumbles, but her hand finally lets go.

“I know, it's the worst.” She presses a kiss to Waverly’s forehead. “It's just paperwork, I don't have to go to the station. Remember?”

“Worst,” Waverly sleep mumbles and Nicole huffs out a laugh. 

“I know, baby. Go back to sleep.”

//

She's about halfway through the stack of reports when Waverly comes shuffling out of the bedroom, blanket wrapped around her shoulders. 

“Hey,” Nicole says, turning in her seat a little to point at the kitchen counter. “There's coffee in the pot, and some veggie scramble left in the pan in the oven. I kept it on low to keep it warm.”

Waverly just crumples down on the couch, pulling the blanket up and over her head. “How did I end up falling for a morning person?” she groans, and Nicole grins as she crosses the room towards her. 

“You love it,” Nicole says, as she kneels down next to the couch, pulling the blanket down from Waverly’s face and tucking it around her shoulders. She knows better than to pull it off of her completely.

Waverly meets her eyes and reaches up to play with the wisps of hair behind Nicole's ear. “Yeah,” she agrees through a smile, “I kinda do.”

Nicole kisses her for a long moment, soft and not really leading to anything. When she pulls back, Waverly leans up to bump their foreheads together.

“Did you finish your paperwork?”

“Some of it. I’ve probably earned a coffee break.”

Waverly grins and nudges her backwards so she can stand up. “I’ll get it.”

Nicole watches Waverly move into the kitchen, blanket still wrapped round her like a cape. She swipes Nicole’s coffee cup from the table as she goes by and then goes to get one for herself. She has to stand on her tiptoes to reach the shelf where Nicole keeps them—Nicole hardly has to reach at all—and Waverly sneaks a glance back at her and grins as she pours coffee into both cups.

“What?” Waverly asks as she comes back over, one cup in each hand.

“I was just thinking about how— nice this is,” Nicole says after a second, embarrassed at being caught. It’s sort of the truth and sort of not.

The truth is the sight of Waverly Earp moving around her kitchen like she feels right at home there is making her chest ache, and all she wants to tell her is that she— 

Waverly looks like she’s trying to keep the smile off her face but failing, one corner quirking up as she settles back down next to her. Nicole wraps one arm around Waverly’s back and pulls her closer as she takes the coffee with her other hand. 

“You mean because no one’s trying to kill us, neither of us are in the hospital, and Wynonna hasn’t interrupted us yet?”

Nicole laughs, “Something like that.”  

//

She finishes her paperwork with Waverly’s feet tucked underneath her legs, Waverly’s arm lying along the back of the couch so she can play with the ends of Nicole’s hair at the nape of her neck. 

Waverly’s snuggled under the blanket, flicking through the morning paper. Every so often their eyes meet, and the paperwork gets forgotten for long moments as they smile at each other, eyes soft in the morning light.

There might be better ways to spend a Sunday morning, but she can't think of any right now. 

////

 

_ 0: Waverly _

 

“You’re sure you’ll be okay,” Wynonna says, cradling William in one arm and eyeing them both in turn.

Waverly’s actually a little upset at the distrustful look on her sister’s face. The summer between eighth grade and freshman year she’d run the most successful babysitting business Purgatory had ever seen, and— 

She swallows as her memories catch up with her thoughts.

Wynonna wasn’t around that summer.

“I survived a demon possession, I think we’ll be okay,” she says instead, catching Nicole huff out a humourless laugh under her breath. 

“You  _ think _ ?” Wynonna says quickly. Waverly doesn’t miss the way she pulls William a little closer against herself, and wants to roll her eyes.

Not that she’d dare. She'd rather fight the Widows again. 

“I’ve nearly died three times since I met you guys.” Nicole says it so matter-of-factly it makes something in Waverly’s chest tighten, and then offers a small shrug when both Waverly and Wynonna look at her. “William’s kind of easy after that.”

“You don’t have to change his diapers,” Wynonna mumbles, even as Nicole takes a step closer to her, hands held out in front of her palms up, kind of like she’s approaching a hostage

She’s close enough now that she can reach and take William from Wynonna’s arms, and Waverly knew her girlfriend was brave but this is veering into absolute stupidity. She holds her breath, waiting for Wynonna to do  _ something _ , but she just stands there and lets Nicole take him, like it’s perfectly normal and she hasn’t been arguing about leaving for the last 45 minutes.

“You need a night off, Wynonna. From revenants  _ and _ mommy duty. Go and have fun.” Nicole pulls faces at William as she says it which kind of ruins the tough love thing they’d decided to go for when they came up with this idea. William giggles happily in response. 

Waverly thinks she knows how he feels.

Nicole glances up, and her eyes lock with Wynonna’s. For a second neither of them move and Waverly doesn't think their plan has worked, but then Wynonna sighs as Nicole starts to smile encouragingly at her and Waverly knows she’s giving in.

“Okay,  _ fine _ .” Wynonna’s hand goes down to rest on Peacemaker at her belt. Waverly watches her knuckles tighten around the handle. “You know forced fun isn’t any kind of fun at all.”

“We got this, right Billy?” Nicole says, more to William than to Wynonna, and Waverly watches Wynonna’s eyes get soft when she stares at her son, Nicole rocking him a little as he gurgles and then settles down in her arms. 

“Go on,” Waverly says, sterner than she feels, and Wynonna only hesitates for another second before she ducks out the door.

//

So it turns out babysitting is way easier than she remembers.

Or at least, it is when the baby is only a couple of months old and mostly sleeps.

“Check us out,” Waverly says, looking up from where she’s curled into Nicole’s chest on the couch, a blanket tucked around them. “We totally got this.”

She glances at the baby monitor but it’s still completely silent, and she snuggles a little closer to Nicole just because.

“Easy, right?” Nicole agrees, stifling a yawn. “Billy the kid’s got our backs.”

“Are you sleepy too?” Waverly asks, dipping her head to kiss Nicole’s cheek. 

“Double shift,” Nicole says by way of explanation. But her hands press against Waverly’s back, urging her closer. “I’m okay.”

Waverly bites at her lip as she smiles. “Good, cuz I have a few ideas about how we can spend the night.”

Nicole grins into the kiss, and then laughs into the next one, and Waverly feels giddy as she licks into her mouth and slides her hand under her shirt, fingers finding hot skin.

//

This is more like babysitting the way she remembers it.

William’s screams are so loud it actually hurts, and Nicole winces as she tries to rock him, tickling his belly to try and get him to shush.

“I think he’s hungry,” Nicole says, loud enough to be heard over the crying. “There’s formula in the kitchen, right?”

“God, I hope so,” Waverly mumbles under her breath when she goes to look. 

There is, and she practically runs back, tugging her nephew out of Nicole’s arms, so she can offer him the bottle. He latches on quickly, the screams stopping almost at once, and she breathes a sigh of relief as her eyes find Nicole’s.

“Easy, right?” She’s not sure which one of them she’s trying to convince.

“Sure,” Nicole says, running her hand through her hair to try and straighten it out from where it got fuzzy against the couch. It doesn’t really help.

It doesn’t feel like much time has passed before William detaches himself from the bottle and yawns, and Waverly shuffles him around to burp him as Nicole takes the bottle from her, patting his back softly.

He gurgles a bit—”You’re welcome,” she says in response—and then burps, a lot louder than he has any right to, given he’s still tiny.

“Wow,” Nicole says, eyes wide and Waverly laughs as she keeps patting him absentmindedly  

“He’s worse than Uncle Curtis after Gus—”

She doesn’t finish the sentence, because William burps again, a little bit of a whine in it, before unceremoniously vomiting all over her.

She squeezes her eyes shut and takes a steadying breath. 

Babysitting is a lot grosser than she remembers too, it turns out.

Nicole presses her lips together tightly like she’s trying not to laugh, and Waverly just holds William straight out in front of her, glaring at him. “Not cool, little man.”

She swears he’s actually smiling at her. It makes it very hard to be mad at him, especially because his dark hair and eyes remind her so much of her sister.

“Waves—”

“Nicole Haught if you laugh at me right now, I swear to god…”

Nicole coughs, and Waverly wonders if that counts since it’s obviously hiding a laugh. Nicole smiles nervously as Waverly tries to glare at her, only her heart isn't really in it.

“It’s in your hair,” Nicole says after a moment, taking William off of her and looking around for something to wipe him off with. Waverly takes a step towards the stairs. “I’ll clean him, if you want to go and—”

“Shower,” Waverly finishes. “ _ Please _ .”

//

She washes her hair three times and it still doesn’t feel clean.

She doesn’t bother drying it, just twists it up into a ponytail and throws some old pajamas on in case William tries the same trick again, and heads back downstairs, hoping Nicole managed to get him back to sleep.

She stumbles to a stop in the doorway, blinking in surprise at what she sees.

Nicole is lying on her back on the couch, eyes closed, breathing deep and even. The soft expression on her face matches the one on William’s where he’s fast sleep on her chest, one hand curled around Nicole’s finger, her other hand wrapped loosely around his back.

It floors her, the warm feeling in her chest growing until she doesn’t know what to do with herself and she ends up stuck there, unmoving.

She’s seen a world without Wynonna, and heard about how Wynonna got sent back in time—sort of—to see Doc and Bobo before the curse took hold, but she’s never really thought about the future before.

She thinks maybe this is what it could be like.

She takes one faltering step closer, then another, until she’s crouched in front of them, reaching a hand out to ghost through Nicole’s hair.

Nicole stirs, her eyes fluttering open. “Hi,” she mumbles, her arm tightening around William like she’s checking he’s still there. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“I love you,” Waverly says, all in a rush, because she can’t not.

It’s the first time, and she knows it shouldn’t be, but the smile that breaks out over Nicole’s face was worth the wait.

“Yeah?” Nicole says, still dopey with sleep as she searches Waverly’s eyes. “I love you too.”

She says it like it’s a secret, and Waverly wants to laugh, but.

“Come here,” Nicole says, so Waverly does.

The kiss is soft, close-mouthed and sweet. Waverly melts into it.

// 

Wynonna comes home earlier than she said she would, and Waverly can see the anxiety in her eyes disappear when she realises they’re all still there. Waverly straightens in the chair, unfolding her legs from underneath herself.

“Hey,” she whispers, craning her neck to look at her. “They’re asleep.”

Wynonna stills in the doorway, her eyes tracking across to where Waverly is pointing at Nicole, flat out on her back on the couch with William on her stomach. She’s still got one arm tucked around him loosely, the other trailing down on to the floor.

“Please tell me you haven’t been sitting here in the dark soft-eyeing your girlfriend’s maternal instincts.” Waverly isn’t sure how, but she makes it sound dirty. Her cheeks feel warm, and she  _ really _ hopes Wynonna can’t see her blushing in the dark. “You’re way too young to be broody.”

Waverly huffs and Wynonna breaks into a delighted grin.

“Your son threw up on me tonight so you should think very carefully before you speak,” she says quickly, before Wynonna can say anything else.

Wynonna chuckles, the smile turning softer. “Yeah, he kinda does that.”

Wynonna comes over to settle down on the arm of Waverly’s chair. She’s silent for a minute, and then she says, “Billy likes Nicole.”

Waverly knows what that really means, and she’s not going to let it slide. “Is this your way of telling me you approve of my girlfriend?”

Wynonna wraps her in a one armed hug, resting her head against hers. “She’s okay for a cop, I guess.”

“More than okay,” Waverly says, knocking her foot against Wynonna’s.

Wynonna sighs, exaggerated and drawn out, then nods against her head. “Nicole’s good people.”

“I know.” She can’t keep the grin off her face. “That’s why I love her.”

////


End file.
